Experimental HIV vax works in primates

Scientists at Scripps Research have published new research that shows that their experimental vaccine strategy works in non-human primates.

The new study shows that rhesus macaque monkeys can be prompted to produce neutralizing antibodies against one strain of HIV that resembles the resilient viral form that most commonly infects people.

"We found that neutralizing antibodies that have been induced by vaccination can protect animals against viruses that look a lot like real-world HIV," says Dennis Burton, PhD, chair of Scripps Research's Department of Immunology and Microbiology.

While the vaccine is far from human clinical trials, the study provides proof-of-concept for the HIV vaccine strategy Burton and his colleagues have been developing since the 1990s.

A foundation headed by philanthropist Len Blavatnik has given Harvard Medical School its largest gift, $200 million, with the overarching aim of transforming new medical discoveries into patient treatments.

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